


Bye I Love You

by eddie_tozier (orphan_account)



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Background Byler, Cuddling, F/F, Fluff, Gay, el is baby, el mixes up the words crush and squash and calls her crush a squash, eleven loves max very much, elmax - Freeform, im trash at tags, it sucks in the very beginning but it gets better with the dialouge, jonathan is a chaotic mess and he's barely even in it, max loves eleven very much, mf babies, she also asks will if he's a lesbian, they cuddle! and kiss!, this is v soft, uhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21999541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/eddie_tozier
Summary: “I don’t really know. I think it’s because we cuddle a lot. We also share a bed during sleepovers. She makes me very happy.” El stopped and took a deep breath. “Her eyes are really pretty. So is her smile. And her hair. And her face. And just… Dustin, she is really really pretty. She is also very sweet. And kind. Also a few days ago, after our sleepover, she said I looked beautiful. My hair was a mess and I just woke up. I know for sure I did not look beautiful. We were also cuddling when she said it, and I kind of-”“You what?”“I wanted to kiss her.”aka elmax getting together/ rated teen only bc dustin swears a lot
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield
Comments: 10
Kudos: 83





	Bye I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> im soft for them bye

The battle of starcourt was over.

Final-fucking-ly.

That meant El could finally try to restore her powers and relax.

And maybe try to finally talk to Max about something  _ important _ .

El and Mike haven’t gotten back together, even though Mike had tried countless times. Buying her ice cream, trying to find an excuse to be remotely close (even if that meant lying to Will about wanting to come over, which broke Will’s heart when he found out [plot twist: Mike eventually caught feelings for Will but that is a fic for another day]), and taking her to the movies. Mike even tried to kiss her once. But El? She doesn’t feel the same way about him anymore.

Maybe someone else.

Definitely someone else.

Normally when something happens in El’s life, she talks to Max. When she found out about Mike lying to her, when she found out about her being adopted by the Byers, when she found out about her new (adopted) brother’s feelings for her ex (Max ships them don’t @ me), and when she found out about her moving, she always went to Max. Max was always there for her, and always helped, no matter the situation. She told El that she deserves better than Mike and that she should break things off with him, Helped the Byers throw a welcome-home party when El joined the family, assured El that if Mike and Will were to ever get together that they would be happy, and wiped El’s tears when she found out she was going to be moving. They also shared ice cream, had a sleepover and  _ cuddled _ , which helped further confirm El’s crush on the red-head.

Which is why she could  _ not _ go to Max about this specific problem.

Maybe going to Dustin wasn’t the best idea, but El didn’t know any better.

And that is why she’s knocking on his door right now.

“ _ Shit _ , move the  _ fuck _ out of the way you  _ fucking cat _ ” El heard from inside, stifling a laugh. He opened the door and smiled.

“Good Afternoon, El. What’s up?”

“Can I ask you a favor?” El asked slowly. She didn’t know what she was getting herself into.

“Of fucking course what is it?”, he was willing to help any of his friends with anything, as long as it did not involve him having to shave his hair. Long story, once Mike tried it on him, and it did _not_ end well.

“I think I have a squash on someone.” she replied, not really understanding what she just said.

“A  _ squash? _ ”

“Yeah, a squash. Feelings and stuff.”

“You mean a crush?” Dustin asked the girl, putting the pieces together. He loved helping out his friends with crushes.

“Yeah, that” El replied, snapping her fingers. Dustin pulled her inside, and the two sat on the couch. Dustin  _ literally _ pulled out a bag of popcorn, ready to hear all about El’s crush.

“Who’s the lucky man?” he asked before shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth. El shook her head. Did it have to be a man?

“Not gonna tell me?” Dustin asked with a mouthful of popcorn.

“No. Not a man.” El replied, scrunching her nose. Dustin choked on his popcorn.

“Holy  _ shit _ . If it’s not a man then is it-”

“I think I have a squa- _ crush _ on a girl. Is that allowed?”

“Fuck yeah it’s allowed, you would just be a lesbian. That’s cool I want to see Mike get mad and-”

“What is les-bean? Is Will les-bean?” Dustin laughed so hard that he spit out his popcorn. El didn’t understand why.

“I’m sorry El, I know you don’t know what it means and everything-” he started in between laughs. He suddenly stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes.

“Is it Suzie?” El and Suzie did talk and they did sort of become long-distance friends.

“No its not. I know my squ- CRUSH in real life.” this made Dustin’s jaw drop.

“ _ Is it Max?” _ he shoved more popcorn in his face. El looked up at him and nodded. Dustin smiled (he 100% ships it).

“Why?” He asked. El sort of frowned. “Not saying you shouldn’t. Believe me, I had a massive crush on her last year too.”

“I don’t really know. I think it’s because we cuddle a lot. We also share a bed during sleepovers. She makes me very happy.” El stopped and took a deep breath. “Her eyes are really pretty. So is her smile. And her hair. And her face. And just… Dustin, she is  _ really really _ pretty. She is also very sweet. And kind. Also a few days ago, after our sleepover, she said I looked beautiful. My hair was a mess and I just woke up. I know for sure I did  _ not _ look beautiful. We were also cuddling when she said it, and I kind of-”

“You what?”

“I wanted to kiss her.” El said quietly, looking down and smiling. She felt her face growing red. Dustin was close to having a seizure, he was  _ really _ freaking out. 

“What the shit, that is  _ so fucking cute _ ” he said, reaching for another mouthful of popcorn.

“You should ask her to have another sleepover, and if she says yes, say it’s a date” he spoke not that clearly, as his mouth was full of popcorn.

“A date?” her eyes lit up, clearly liking the idea.

“Hell yeah. Here use the phone” he pointed at the phone on the wall. El scrambled up and hurried to the phone, punching in the phone number that she somehow memorized (maybe from calling it so many times. Or maybe just the fact that she has a crush on the girl on the other end helped.)

After about three  _ excruciatingly long rings  _ Max picked up.

“Hello?” that was all El needed for her heart to melt.

“Himaxwannacomeoverforasleepoveratmyhousepleaseitsel” El clumsily said all in one breath.

“Hi El! Of course! I’ll be over at 6!” Max said very happily. El’s heart was thumping in her chest and she glanced over at her friend who nodded at her.

“Great! It’s a date!”  _ How the fuck did she manage to say that _ both El and Dustin thought. The silence on the other line was deafening.

“A date?! Oh my god yes!” Max basically yelled into the phone.

“ _ Okaygreatbyeiloveyou _ ” El rambled and hung up immediately.

“ _ OH MY GOD _ ” El and Dustin yelled at the same time.

“I just said-” El started, her face flushing.

“She’s going over in two hours, you should go home and get ready, El.” Dustin told her. El thanked him for his help and went back to the Byers house.

She burst through the door and Will was the poor soul that she ran into. 

“WILL!”

“YES, EL” he yelled, matching her volume.

“ARE YOU A LES-BEAN” she shouted, Jonathan laughing in the next room over.

“No El, I’m not a lesbian, that is physically impossible. Why?”

“DUSTIN TOLD ME I WAS A LES-BEAN AND SINCE YOU LIKE MIKE I THOUGHT-” she got cut off by Will covering her mouth.

“ _ Stop. Yelling. _ ”

“Sorry, Will.” she said, muffled by Will’s palm. Will removed his hand from her mouth.

“Why did Dustin tell you that you are a lesbian? Do you know what that means?” El looks scared. “Don’t worry, it’s not bad, really.”

“I have a s- crush on Max and I talked to Dustin about it, what does it mean?” Will smiles.

“Aw, you like Max? El, that’s amazing! It means you are a girl that likes girls.”

“Are you a boy les-bean?”

“Yes but no. For a boy, and a girl could call it this too, it’s called being gay.”

“Will I am gay.”   
  


“Me too, El.”

“So you  _ are _ a boy les-bean.” El said, pointing a finger at Will. Will sighed.

“El, a girl can be gay, it’s called being a lesbian, but a boy being gay is just called gay. Okay?”

“Ah, okay. Anyways I accidentally told Max I loved her, which isn’t a lie, and she’s coming over at six zero zero for a sleepover date so i need to go get ready.” She said quickly as she walked past Will into her and Will’s shared room, Will’s mouth forming a perfect 0.

**_6:00_ **

El put on her favorite outfit, one of the ones Max helped pick out that Max said she looked  _ perfect _ in (even though soon enough she would be changing into her pajamas), and patiently waited by the door for her crush.

Soon enough the red-head came riding on her bike, her hair billowing in the breeze, her overnight bag thumping against her waist. El felt stupid smile grow on her face.

She didn’t even mind that Max was seven minutes late.

El rushed to the sofa to make it look like she wasn’t waiting for Max, and picked up the ~~nearest book~~ tv manual and tried her best to make it look like she was engrossed in the dumb thing.

Will let Max in, and hurried off to his room so he doesn’t get in the way. El set down her tv manual and stood up, facing the girl. Max walked toward her, their faces about a foot apart.

“Did you mean it?” Max asked, dropping her bag on the floor, not taking her eyes off of the girl in front of her.

“Mean what?” El asked Max, stepping closer, taking Max’s hands. Max’s face turned a shade close to her hair.

“You know what I’m talking about, El.” Max said with a small smile, stepping closer. The two girls are incredibly close right now. If one of them were to just lean forward-

“Friends don’t lie.” El said, quietly, leaning slightly forward, hoping that Max takes the hint.

She does.

Their fingers still interlocked, Max leans in almost the rest of the way, stopping right when their lips are about to touch.

“I love you too” she whispers and then breaks the distance, both of their eyes fluttering shut.

Yeah, when Mike and El were still together they kissed a lot, but nothing like this. It was like the two were destined for this moment, and they both knew it.

Max let go of El’s hands and wrapped them around El’s waist, like Mike did at the snowball, so naturally El draped her arms around Max’s shoulders, eventually moving up to her cheeks. 

They didn’t know how long they were kissing, but they were stopped when Jonathan came in with a movie and a bowl of popcorn for them to share.

“Hey guys, thought you might want some popc-oH MY GOD I’LL LEAVE.” At this point, El’s hands were tangled in Max’s hair and they were on the couch, Max on El’s lap. Their eyes shot open and they broke off their kiss long enough to see Jonathan speed walking out of the room, sending the girls into fits of laughter.

When the laughter died down, the two sat there gazing at each other, lost in each other’s eyes.

“You meant it” El whispered, referring to when Max said she loved El too.

“Girlfriends don’t lie” Max replied with a smile, making El grin from ear to ear, her smile faltering remembering she is moving in a month and a half.

“But I’m leaving-”

“And it’s not gonna stop me from loving you at all.” Max interrupted, kissing el on the nose, putting that smile back on El’s face.

That night the two watched movies (though both will admit to staring at each other a lot), cuddling. El told Max everything that she told Dustin.

  
Her eyes are really pretty. So is her smile. And her hair. And her face. And just… she is  _ really really  _ ~~pretty~~ beautiful. She is also very sweet. And kind. And perfect. And the best girlfriend she could ask for.

**Author's Note:**

> im sorry the end was kinda rushed, it was my first time writing them, let me know what you thought!


End file.
